noise

Beetlejuice, on 2012-04-03 14:46:55, said:

The breatharians have a really tough time during the burning season.

Here are the facts and not a lot of people know this.

Back in the pre-war year 1937 the main city of Chiang Mai was a deprived poverty stricken area. In fact so severe was the poverty and the sufferings of it`s inhabitants that the word soon began spreading around the world.

The Holy Welsh Presbyterian Church in all it`s wisdom decided to send one of it`s breatharian to investigate and find a solution to the plight and sufferings of the city’s poorest residents.

So they sent one of they’re wisest and most admirable men as an ambassador of the civilised world, a Welsh missionary by the name of John Thomas. When he arrived at the scene of what is now known as Loi Kroh but during that time was not worthy of a name, he was appalled and shocked by all the poverty he was witnessing. John Thomas could speak no English, and could only speak in Welsh Gaelic. In his native tongue John Thomas described the locals as Loi, meaning haggard and grey haired and the area as Kroh, meaning filth and neglect, the shortened term being, Grot. The full translation meaning a deprived slum like area inhabited by aging, haggard and wretched individuals.

During the later part of 1938 John Thomas met up with his associates from various charitable organisations and held a meeting with the village elders. All wise and learned men came up with a master plan. They decided to transform the rat infested diseased ridden slums of the area into drinking establishments that would employ the local aging no hoper residents as hostesses and bar staff, mostly to service and to attract the more discerning mature foreign clientele of little wealth.

The scheme was a success and in late 1945 after the Japanese air force failed in it`s attempts to demolish the vicinity with intense bombing, the area fondly became known as Loi Kroh after how it was described by John Thomas when he first arrived there in 1937 and of course the rest is history.

Even today some of the original bar hostesses from 1938 are still employed in the numerous massage parlours that frequent the area.

This has been my experience but you are welcome to state and argue a differentiating opinion. Essentially in Thai society rich Thais treat poor Thais in a very non-personal manner, therefore, if you treat a poor Thai person (your maid/driver/the noodle lady/employee) nicely they will take your kindness as weakness. In the West, we treat everyone as though they are deserving of respect regardless of social standing. In Thailand, note that everyone is not equal. You have social classes to heed. You can smile at them but do it vaguely while avoiding eye contact. If you have some extra fruit that you are eating, throw it in the garbage as opposed to spoiling them with it (unless it is close to a holiday in which case you can call it a bonus). Do not engage them on any personal level. Poorer Thais are easily confused and you should keep their tasks and the social order as simple as possible.